THE CHAMOIS 89 



drawn over the sight, it often materially assists to take the 

 rifle apart, and wrap the stock and the barrels separately in 

 the folds of the game-bag (to prevent chafing). By thus 

 making a compact parcel of it, and with the assistance of a few 

 fathoms of strong cord, which should always be carried with 

 one, it can be drawn up after one at the more difficult places. 

 Three hours' stiff climbing landed me at last near the top of the 

 peak, where further progress was rendered easier by the existence 

 of horizontal ledges running towards the side of the mountain 

 which I was striving to gain. Wriggling along one of these 

 bands, now on my hands and knees, then again in an upright 

 position with my back scraping against the rock, I finally 

 weathered the corner or shoulder of the mountain, and there 

 at my feet lay the slope to gain the command of which had 

 entailed such hard work. 



The slope I overlooked was perfect stalking ground. Far 

 less precipitous than the one I had ascended, it fell away from 

 the top in a series of terrace-like steps, each separated from the 

 next by small precipices from twenty to fifty feet in height. 

 The uppermost steps were almost verdureless, while the middle 

 and lower ones broadened into grassy ledges with thick beds 

 of the dwarf pine (latchen), affording good grazing and capital 

 shelter. The breeze was drawing briskly up the slope, and 

 everything, from the nature of the ground to the glorious 

 autumn weather and crisp atmosphere of high altitudes, seemed 

 favourable to good sport. 



From nine to twelve in the forenoon is the worst time to 

 spy for chamois, for after their morning graze they invariably, 

 except in very bad weather, lie down in some sheltered nook 

 where it is almost impossible to spot them. At noon they rise, 

 if only for a few minutes, to nibble at the nearest blades of 

 grass and resume their ' couch.' An old poacher's saying that 

 the older the buck the more punctual he is, emphasises this 

 habit, which, by-the bye, is also observed by red deer. An 

 hour's rest, with a bite of lunch and a pull or two at a flask of 

 genuine kirsch, formed an acceptable interlude and when 



